“As much education as they can afford”

There are only two viable theories to explain Barack Obama’s extraordinary run of luck in finding self-destructing opponents to run against: if he’s not under Divine protection, then he must have sold his soul to Satan.

Latest example is Mitt Romney, who appears to be competing for the coveted gold medal in Tone-Deafness.

Mitt thinks that children should get “as much education as they can afford.” Â (Where “affording” includes, no doubt, borrowing from your parents.) Of course his preferred policy is largely the current policy: a child in the bottom quartile of measured intellectual capacity but whose family is in the top income quartile has a better chance of finishing college than someone in the brightest quartile intellectually but the poorest economically. But the American Dream is still about a place where a child’s future isn’t limited by his parents’ means.

Romney isn’t alone in dreaming a different dream. But most of his fellow plutocrats and plutocrat-friendly pols are smart enough not to say so out loud.